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Introduction: Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or type 1 diabetes is an organ-specific autoimmune disease that caused by destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Etiology of this disease is still unknown. It is seen that genetic and environmental factors play an important role for susceptibility to develop type 1 diabetes. The relationship between HLA associated factors and susceptibility to IDDM disease, was reported by several investigators. Also, some studies show that dermatoglyphics is associated with type 1 diabetes. However, it is maybe there is an association between HLA and dermatoglyphics inpatients'with type 1 diabetes and these characteristics could be applied for diagnosis of disease.
Materials and Methods: In this study, the prevalence of HLA (with using standard microlymphocytotoxicity method) and dermatoglyphics determined in 30 Iranian patients with IDDM and 30 normal healthy controls with similar ethnic background and the same geographical area.
Results: A significantly higher frequency of HLA-DQ, A2, DR3 and DQ2 were found in IDDM cases compared to the controls. The results obtain from dermatoglyphics showed that line ab was reduced in male and female type 1 diabetes. The reciever operating chractristics curve showed that the positive point for lines ab in right and left hands were 34.7 and 35.25, respectively.
Discussion: There is no association between HLA and dermatoglyphics.
With considering of genes encoding of HLA separated from genes determining dermatoglyphics, HLA typing and dermatoglyphics seem to be interesting tools for genetic studies related to type 1 diabetes. Further studies are recommended in order to provide more insight into the susceptibility to this disorder.

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  Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, human leukocyte antigens

Introduction: Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or type 1 diabetes is created by autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas in genetically susceptible individuals. The relationship between human leukocyte antigens (HLA) associated factors and susceptibility to IDDM disease, was reported by several investigators. Association with different HLA types depends also on the studied populations. The aim of the present study was to determine HLA antigens which represent a high susceptibility to develop the IDDM disease in this area. Materials and Methods: In this study, the prevalence of HLA class-I and II antigens has been determined in 31 Arakian patients with IDDM and 57 normal healthy controls with similar ethnic background and from the same geographical area. The typing of HLA antigens was carried out using standard microlymphocytotoxicity method. Results: A significantly higher frequency of HLA-A2, A3, B21, DR3 and DQ2 were found in IDDM cases compared to the controls. In contrast, HLA-DR2, DR7 and B53 were represented at a somewhat higher frequency in controls compared to the IDDM patients. Conclusion: These results indicate that HLA-A2, A3, B21, DR3 and DQ2 antigens contribute to susceptibility to IDDM independently and HLA-DR2, DR7 and B53 antigens maybe associated with prevention of IDDM in Arakian patients.

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 Introduction: Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model of multiple sclerosis distinguished by infiltration of leukocytes into the central nervous system. Changes in composition and levels of unsaturated fatty acids, affect the integrity of blood-brain barrier. In this study, we evaluated the effect of Sesame oil on the leukocyte infiltration into the brain of MOG35-55 induced EAE male C57BL/6 mice. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, male C57BL/6 mice were placed in two therapeutic groups (n=10 per group) with age and weight-matched as follow: 1.Sesame oil-treated EAE mice received 4ml/kg/day of Sesame oil given i.p. from day -3 until day +19 after disease induction, 2.Non-treated EAE mice (EAE control) received Phosphate buffer alone with same schedule. EAE was induced by immunization of mice with MOG35-55 peptide and complete Freund's adjuvant. Leukocytes infiltration into the brain was investigated 20 days after immunization. Data was analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The results show that Sesame oil-treated mice had significantly less clinical score of EAE (2.6±0.4) than non-treated EAE induced mice (4.2±0.6), (p<0.001). Also, there was a significant difference at number of the infiltrating cells in brain between Sesame oiltreated (80±20) and non treated EAE-induced mice (150±30), (p<0.01). Conclusion: These results indicate that Sesame oil reduces infiltration of leukocytes into the brain of EAE mice, therefore lessening the histological changes and clinical signs and thus ameliorating the disease.

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Background: Several studies have demonstrated that the levels of inflammatory markers in healthy women are under the influence of menstrual cycle changes. The aim of this study was to compare blood levels of inflammatory markers in women with appendicitis in different phases of menstrual cycle. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 70 female and 12 male patients with appendicitis, and 61 healthy women were enrolled based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inflammatory markers, such as leukocyte count, CRP, ESR, and TNF-α were measured and compared using student t-test and one-way ANOVA based on different phases of menstrual cycle. Results: There were no significant changes in the ESR, CRP, and TNF-α concentrations and the number of peripheral blood leukocytes in different phases of the menstrual cycle in women with appendicitis. The mean number of leukocytes and CRP concentrations were significantly higher in patients with appendicitis compared with the control group. Conclusion: The findings show that there are not significant differences in the inflammatory markers in women with appendicitis during the different phases of menstrual cycles. It seems that day to day variation of sexual hormones in the menstrual cycle have led to very different conclusions about the change of inflammatory markers in different phases of menstrual cycle. Therefore, studies investigating inflammatory markers in women with acute appendicitis based on day of menstrual cycle, time of sampling in the day, and severity of appendicitis are suggested.

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Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder with unknown etiology. Genetic and environmental factors associated with MS susceptibility. Genetic studies show an important role for human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and susceptibility to autoimmune diseases such as MS. There is controversy between the association of HLA alleles with MS susceptibility in various studies. However, with consider the high incidence of MS in Iranian population and limit information about association of HLA and MS, we analyzed HLA alleles in MS patients.

Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 60 MS patients and 40 normal individuals with the same ethic background and geographic area were analyzed for HLA-DRB and DQB alleles by single specific primer-polymerase chain reaction (SSP-PCR) method.

Results: HLA-DRB1*03 and DQB1*02 alleles frequencies in MS patients were greater than healthy controls. There was no significant difference in frequency of other HLA-DR alleles between the MS patients and normal individuals.

Conclusion: DRB1*03 and DQB1*02 alleles confer increased susceptibility to MS in this population. However, to determine the role of HLA in Iranian MS patients, more studies are needed.